They did it again, but bigger and better! As part of September's Debris Month of Action, Bubbles Dive Centre, the one and only 100% AWARE dive centre in Gozo, Malta, joined by their customers and fellow divers coordinated their biggest Dive Against Debris event to date.

During last year's Debris Month of Action, the team at Bubbles Dive Centre set a 30 days war on plastic in general and plastic bottles in particular. This year their efforts focused on removing 200 kilos of discarded ropes and other large debris that were polluting the bay at Marsalforn.

“Not only did we bring up a vast amount of discarded rope,” says David Hayler-Montague, Director of Diving at Bubbles Dive Centre, “but also a car seat, cans, plastics, metal pipes, clothes and even part of an intravenous drip which is very dangerous and hazardous waste.”

All the rubbish that was removed from the bay will either be recycled or disposed of correctly to make sure it no longer causes damage to the marine environment. Details of the debris have been recorded and sent to us at Project AWARE for analysis alongside data from similar events held around the World not only during September's Debris Month of Action but throughout the year. This data will help drive changes in policies and infrastructure at local, regional and international levels.

“This was our biggest Dive Against Debris to date and once again we organised this event to not only clean up the sea bed, but also to raise awareness of the problem in an effort to reduce the devastating impacts of debris”, Donna Hayler-Montague said, owner of Bubbles Dive Centre.

Nana Andersen, who organised Sunday’s event added “as divers we take so much pleasure from the sea, I hope this event will encourage all divers to work together to keep the seas clean.”

Donna Hayler-Montague, owner of the centre, said: “We opened this centre to focus specifically on raising awareness of marine conservation and encouraging low-impact diving. As dive professionals it is easy to promote the fantastic diving in Malta and Gozo but we all also have a responsibility to look after the sea and marine life. It’s easy to talk about making a difference but its only actions that count and a healthy sea is crucial to the dive industry and tourism here.”

On behalf of all of us at Project AWARE thank you for not only taking action locally but contributing to the protection of the oceans globally through your participation to the 100% AWARE programme.